1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a parking assist system that automatically controls steering of a vehicle to a parking spot to assist parking of the vehicle and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
When parking a vehicle, a driver usually moves the vehicle, observing obstacles on the lateral sides and rear side of the vehicle through the side mirrors and the rear-view mirror which are mounted on the vehicle.
However, a blind spot that is seldom recognized by the driver is formed around the rear corners of the vehicle, and even when the driver recognizes an obstacle, failure to identify the correct length and width of the vehicle may lead to failure of recognition of the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, thereby resulting in contact of the vehicle with the obstacle.
To address this disadvantage, a parking assist system (PAS) has been introduced, which assists the driver in recognition of the distance of the vehicle from an obstacle using sensors mounted to the front and rear of the vehicle. Also, a smart parking assist system (SPAS) has recently been introduced which recognizes a parking spot and automatically generates a parking path to automatically control the steering wheels and park the vehicle without requiring driver manipulation of the steering wheel. The SPAS is also referred to as a parking steering assist system since it controls steering of the vehicle.
The PAS receives, from various sensors mounted to the vehicle, a vehicular speed, side sensor information, a wheel pulse indicating a travel distance of a wheel and a signal of a steering angle sensor to recognize the parking space and perform path control.
However, the system as above may fail to park the vehicle at the center of the parking space, and rather complete the parking with the vehicle positioned closer to a front vehicle or rear vehicle. If parking is completed with the vehicle positioned closer to the front vehicle, the driver may need to unnecessarily adjust the position of the vehicle when leaving the parking spot. On the other hand, if parking is completed with the vehicle positioned closer to the rear vehicle, a sufficient space may not be secured in loading/unloading the trunk.